Reviews of "The Very Thing That You Treasure"

"Beautifully crafted, laid-back pop songs as sunny as a fresh summer's day, and as melancholy as mid-fall, Spike Priggen's The Very Thing That You Treasure is a delicate, yet sophisticated acoustic pop record."

Alex Steininger

In Music We Trust

"The Very Thing That You Treasure, Priggen will tell you, has been a lifetime in the making. Quite frankly it’s been worth the wait."

Kurt Hernon

Bangsheet

If there is any justice in this teen-popping world, The Very Thing That You Treasure won't get lost on the streets. It's a sweet little treasure that deserves a home.

Carrie Havranek

SonicNet

"The Very Thing that You Treasure is, quite simply, an amazing album. From the first track, a gorgeously reverby, jangly pop ballad called "Every Broken Heart," you know you're into something good. Priggen's voice is kind of nasal and a little bit awkward, but there is a gentleness to it that is immediately charming."

Scout

Delusions Of Adequacy

"Next time I'm getting over a terrorizing, head-over-heels heartbreak, The Very Thing That You Treasure will be in the driver's seat, helping me cry myself into the nearest telephone pole. Until then, this unbelievably depressing CD will be sitting on my shelf, safe from unsuspecting ears that can't deal with its gut-wrenching power. Priggen definitely has issues with chicks, as several tunes (including "Every Broken Heart" and "She Used To Be My Baby") highlight a borderline obsessive-compulsive singer-songwriter bloodletting his emotions onto a recorded medium. Priggen has a way with words, and his exceptional lyrics weave intricate tales of desperation and loss that somehow, by the disc's end, inspire a sense of hope and yearning. Nonetheless, this potent collection of tear jerking, honky-tonk pop tunes is a marvelous expression of calculated emotional outbursts. Medical authorities should be contacted immediately, as this CD should only be allowed into your CD player with a prescription from your local psychiatrist."

Andrew Magilow

Splendid E-zine

“To be blunt about it, this is a brilliant LP, and as debuts go ranks right up there with those of Marshall Crenshaw, Big Star and The Pretenders. It’s full of indelible hooks and I just want to keep playing it again and again and again…One of the year’s best”

"His lyrics seethe with John Lennon's anger (and wit), but most often, and most brilliantly, they hinge on the sort of forlorn melancholy that Chris Bell made so affecting."

Red Tunic Troll

Amazon Customer Review

"In the finicky music world, Spike Priggen may well be destined to skirt around the perimeters of success for a few more years to come, but his satisfying songs are already worthy of a wider audience. Priggen's debut, The Very Thing That You Treasure, finds the accomplished musician joining the alt.country fray as a less cocky version of Ryan Adams. Two of the better offerings, Every Broken Heart and Outtasight take to the sort of countrified twang that R.E.M. tried for on 1991's Out Of Time. .. It is welcome news that Priggen has already set to work on a follow up."

Rip It Up Magazine

"Priggen's songs are so melodic and throw up so many surprises both lyrically and sonically that it is hard not to love everything on this record.All of the tracks have been a favourite at different times so it is hard to pick out a standout song. It changes from the opening 'Every Broken Heart' to everything in-between that and the last song, 'So Good To See You', a strange psychedelic ballad full of weird effects and mellotron.

Pennyblack Music Website

"In truth it's hard to single out tunes for praise when all 12 tracks are consistently solid. This is a 'song' record, an album that's not about glossy production or sampled drum beats. Spike Priggen writes damn good songs, and that's what you'll find on The Very Thing That You Treasure."

Barfly.com

"Not the most rock 'n' roll of names, and one most likely that most of you have never encountered before, but then 'The Very Thing That You Treasure' isn't the most rock 'n' roll of records. In fact, the debut from New York based multi-instrumentalist Priggen is a wonderfully vibrant melting pot of eclectic pop rock styles that will have power pop fans drooling.

Classic Rock (UK)

"Starting with a chorus of “Every broken heart is just like the first one”, Priggen shows his perfect hand early. Matching Teenage Fanclub with Matthew Sweet, he can’t help but sound like Big Star – which is even better! Irresistibly ragged production and endlessly bittersweet guitar solos will have you singing every line, and feeling like you wrote them all yourself. Proof beyond question that the one thing you can never grow out of is a teenage crush."

TNT Magazine (UK)

"It's an album of confidant versatility, and the two years it took to record are evident in the sound of the material, the care that has been given. So often these days music can seem meaningless, vocals tossed away with a cheap rhyme, but not here."

Spike Priggen is like a musician unstuck in time -- his music manages to sound a bit (and sometimes even more than a bit) like Jeff Lynne ("I Know Everything"), Jeff Lynne producing Badfinger ("Hideaway"), Big Star ("Little Star"), and any number of past musical icons, without ever actually mimmicking any of them. At the same time, his voice isn't great, but it is honest and expressive, sometimes beguilingly so. And when that attribute is coupled with his solid rock production, the effect is to turn romantic laments like "Everyone Loves Me But You" and "Disappointing Everyone" -- which, so logic tells us, ought to be lugubrious singer-songwriter indulgences, and (theoretically) the slowest part of this album -- into beautifully crafted pop-rock, gorgeous enough on every level to hold this listener's attention through multiple listens (something he almost never has time to do). And when he switches over to acoustic guitar, on "The Only Girl In The World", the results are mesmerizing -- he's fully in his element in that low-wattage setting, on one of the prettier country-rock style love songs that this reviewer has heard since Gene Clark left this planet. And "I'm So Glad You Broke My Heart" is a sardonically clever take on romantic separation, ornamented by some of the densest mix of high-wattage guitar and orchestral accompaniment this side of 70's-era Poco. By the end of the disc, it's still a little hard to pin down precisely what Priggen's "real" sound is, but with songs as good as this, does it really matter? Link.

On his third solo album There's No Sound In Flutes, New York-based singer/songwriter/guitarist/blogger/pop-culture archivist Spike Priggen delivers yet another winsome, bracing blast of punchy, sublimely catchy guitar-driven pop-rock songcraft, filtered through the singular sensibility of a much-traveled musical adventurer who's a born romantic, a voracious pop-culture fiend and, above all, a lifelong believer in rock 'n' roll's ability to transcend, transform and inspire.

From the jangly romanticism of "I Know Everything," to the scathing wit of "Everyone Loves Me But You," to the heart-on-sleeve sentiment of "Little Star," to the elegant, evocative twang of "The Only Girl (in the World)," the self-penned, self-produced There's No Sound In Flutes (on the artist's own Volare Label) maintains the same bountiful levels of craft, energy and heart that distinguished Priggen's prior solo releases, the all-original The Very Thing That You Treasure and the quirky covers collection Stars After Stars After Stars.

Priggen's new songs also feature distinctive arrangements that make use of all manner of exotic sounds and textures. "I liked the way all the orchestral stuff on Stars After Stars After Stars turned out," the artist explains. "So almost every song on this one has some kind of orchestral element, from simple chamberlain and mellotron parts to complex 18-piece arrangements. I've always loved that sound, and once I realized that we could do these amazing arrangements, I wanted to have that on every song. Once or twice I thought we might have gone overboard on some of the songs, but they all eventually won me over."

In addition to showcasing Priggen's performing and songwriting gifts, There's No Sound In Flutes also draws upon the talents of many of the stellar players with whom Priggen has crossed paths over the years. The album was engineered by longtime collaborator Adam Lasus, whose recent recording credits include work with the Rogers Sisters and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Cheap Trick drummer Bun E. Carlos, a longtime Priggen pal, is featured on two songs, while other tracks feature such stalwart New York players as guitarists Mark Spencer (Laura Cantrell/Jay Farrar) and Jon Graboff (Ryan Adams/Amy Rigby), bassists Danny Weinkauf (They Might Be Giants/Fountains of Wayne) and Scott Yoder (Kevin Salem/Amy Rigby), keyboardists Rob Arthur (Joan Osborne/Peter Frampton), drummer Brian Doherty (They Might Be Giants/XTC) and keyboardist/arranger CP Roth (Blessid Union of Souls/Ozzy Osbourne), who masterminded the album's inventive faux-orchestral arrangements.

Although There's No Sound In Flutes is Spike (nee Michael) Priggen's third album under his own name, his lengthy musical resume encompasses numerous highly regarded bands and notable recording projects. In his preteen years, his life was forever changed by the energy and attitude of the original New York/London punk/new wave explosion, as well as the hard-edged power-pop of Cheap Trick, Big Star and the Dwight Twilley Band. By his early teens, he'd been swept into New Haven's thriving music scene, where he played in a series of bands with such future underground notables as Miracle Legion founders Mark Mulcahy and Ray Neal, Dumptruck co-founder Kirk Swan and noted producer/sideman Jon Brion.

Moving to New York to study photography at the School of Visual Arts, Priggen worked at the legendary club Danceteria and formed a minimalist pop outfit, the Blue Period, with fellow Danceteria employees Nicole Willis (current Euro soul star) and Dmitry Brill (later DJ Dmitry of Deee-Lite). That Blue Period eventually evolved into the Hello Strangers, an eclectic and ever-mutating Priggen-led ensemble whose lineup would play host to a virtual who's-who of alt-rock royalty, including members of Miracle Legion, the Blood Oranges, Beat Rodeo, the Individuals, the Wygals, Pulsallama, the Go-Betweens, Yo La Tengo, Dumptruck and Blonde Redhead. The Hello Strangers' 1987 incarnation released a well-received album, Goodbye, on the independent Incas label.

In 1985, Priggen moved to Boston, where he served two non-consecutive stints as bassist in the seminal Beantown combo Dumptruck; that period is chronicled on the archival live disc of the 2001 Dumptruck release, Lemmings Travel To The Sea. Subsequently returning to New Haven and then to New York, he relaunched the Hello Strangers while lending his instrumental talents to a variety of ensembles including the Liquor Giants, the Pussywillows, the Schramms, Big Louise, the Caroline Know and the Streams. He also launched an independent label, #1 Records, to release singles by several of those bands, and began dabbling in behind-the-scenes studio work, producing and/or engineering records by the Mad Scene, the Caroline Know and Containe.

Later, during an extended overseas busking jaunt, Priggen played gigs in London and Glasgow, put together a well-received cover band that played in pubs around Edinburgh, and played and sang on an Edwyn Collins-produced album by former Orange Juice/Aztec Camera member Malcolm Ross.

Upon returning to New York, Priggen (using the pseudonym Patrick Prophette) took on his first film-soundtrack assignment, composing music for the acclaimed indie film Chutney Popcorn in collaboration with the aforementioned Adam Lasus. Meanwhile, an abortive liaison with a major label convinced Priggen to pursue his recording career on his own D.I.Y. terms. He formed the Volare Label to release the The Very Thing That You Treasure and Stars After Stars After Stars, both of which earned an impressive level of airplay and press attention, belying the projects' D.I.Y. origins.

As he continues to generate new projects, Priggen's back pages continue to intrigue listeners around the world, as evidenced by the upcoming release of Pop As Can Be And Dance City All The Way, which collects previously obscure tracks by his early-'80s new wave bands TV Neats and the Excerpts, on Japan's Wizzard In Vinyl label.

In recent years, Priggen has also emerged as a popular presence in cyberspace, thanks to his website www.bedazzled.tv, which showcases a dizzying and ever-mutating treasure trove of music, video and pop-culture ephemera as well as trenchant political content. The site was recently named one of "50 Meilleurs Blogs" by the legendary French magazine Les Inrockuptibles.

Meanwhile, the lifelong tunesmith continues to move forward in his ongoing musical quest, exploring new variations within the melodic pop-rock format that still inspires him.

"I've kind of established a pattern of writing bummed-out pop songs, but there's a couple on this album that are a bit happier than usual for me," Priggen observes, adding, "I've actually been in a happy, stable relationship for nearly ten years, but I still have a reserve of good songs left over from all the bad ones. In a weird way, it's more satisfying and fun to write sad songs than to write happy ones. The sad songs are the ones that seem to really affect people; I know they're the ones that get to me."

Reviews Of "Stars After Stars After Stars"

"New York-based Spike Priggen of Liquor Giants, Pussywillows, and Dumptruck enthralled fans with his 2001 solo debut's synthesis of Big Star's chime, the dBs' quirkiness, and Dwight Twilley's pure pop power. This follow-up of lovingly selected covers (in the tradition of Bowie's Pin-Ups and the Band's Moondog Matinee) melds the hearts and minds of the originals with his overarching melancholy, mating a collector's ear for material with a producer's imagination for re-creation. Highlights include Priggen's versions of the Pontiac Brothers' yearning "Be Married Song" and the Zombies' delicate morning-after B-side "How We Were Before." The Ramones, Tracey Thorn, and Scritti Politti's songs all find a common wistfulness in Priggen's soul- and country-inflected arrangements. Closing the disc is a mesmerizing found-sound "J&H Productions" tape, in which a would-be Cincinnati concert promoter attempts to "get with" the "label industry." Whether the "label industry" "gets with" Spike Priggen, lovers of Lennon, Chilton, Stamey, and Sweet certainly should."

Eli Messinger

East Bay Express

"Although it is a highly eclectic collection of mostly obscure songs by other artists, Priggen's second album, "Stars After Stars After Stars," underscores the considerable depths of his talent. Priggen makes each song his own, giving the album a remarkable coherent sound. Some of that is due to his song selection, songs which, except for a straightforward reading of Alice Cooper's "Eighteen," render themselves to his vaguely rootsy power pop interpretations. Priggen reclaims "Questioningly," the Ramones' well-written but improbable stab at country-rock and rescues from obscurity early British pop gems such as Tracy Thorn's "Plainsailing" and Scritti Politti's "A Slow Soul.""

Mark Wilson

Evansville Courier & Press

"This second album finds Spike Priggen and a bunch of friends (Ivan Julian, Bun E Carlos, etc.) covering some great underknown songs by folks like the Pontiac Brothers, the Zombies, Nikki Sudden/Dave Kusworth the Jacobites, Tracy Thorn, the Ramones, etc. If Spike is doing all of the vocals as the press kit seems to indicate; he's the best singing vocal mimic I've ever heard. His Tracy Thorn, and Joey Ramone are uncanny."

George Parsons

Dream Magazine #5

"Priggen is a frequent performer on the NYC scene and at various times has been a member of Dumptruck, Hello Strangers, Liquor Giants, Schramms, and Pussywillows. His 2001 debut revealed a tremendous talent for perfect pop songs often filtered through a country sound. Therefore, the first track on his new disc comes as quite a shock with its blast of synthesizer. Thereafter, he returns to his normal style, for which a useful comparison is Freedy Johnston, whom Priggen resembles in vocal timbre, melodically (especially), and to a lesser extent in overall style. It's a sound that doesn't work well unless lavished on high-quality songs, and Priggen supplies plenty."

Steve

The Big Takeover

"Most of the album is a nostalgic look back at the artist's past, including the bands he's played in as well as those he's idolized, including the Hot Bodies, the Jacobites, and the Zombies. He works through these songs competently and respectfully, and in the end what he's created is a tribute to his own musical development. But in doing so he's also given us a window back into some forgotten moments in music from the 70's and 80's various indie, new-wave, and punk scenes."

George Ford

Delusions Of Adequacy

"On Spike's new "Stars After Stars After Stars" he pulls off the neat trick of recording a classy set of covers (The Pontiac Bros. "Be Married Song"; Zombies, Jenifer Jackson, Sudden & Kusworth) with a star-studded cast (Bun E Carlos, Ivan Julian). He's kicked around in some bands that almost crossed over (Dumptruck, The Liquor Giants, The Caroline Know)--can he finally get a break?". -